This is the illustrated 1842 first edition of MY BEE BOOK by William Charles Cotton. Uncommon first edition, in a customised box, of this 180 + year old touchstone for the apiarist. Cotton, since childhood, evinced a passionate interest in bees and beekeeping. My Bee Book suggested inter alia ways to render bees semiconscious, rather than killing them, to obtain honey. Both boards detached, although present. Lacks back-strip protecting (intact) spine. Octavo Hardback, around 4.5 inches by eight tall, retains its publisher’s original blind-stamped toffee-coloured cloth, decorated with bee motif and legend set within rules, all original gilt. Lacks (blank) upper part of first title [as photo, directly below]. First edition published by Rivington, London, in 1842. Free from permanent inscription and emendation to the text. Although interior condition is overall good, because this original letterpress book is nearly two centuries old, its text-block displays signs of use / age – like the usual age-toning to old paper – consistent with a printed object of this vintage. With the first edition’s irregular pagination as issued (and noted in Harding’s Bibliography of Bee Books): collates as lvi preliminary pages + 2 (unpaginated) leaves then? Pp 60-368 (includes index at rear with, as per Harding, pp 72-98 displaying duplicate page numbers on both left and right hand facing pages). Illustrated with numerous woodcuts, including illustrations thought to be by Whimper. To aid conservation and preservation, your book is supplied with an unsophisticated but serviceable custom-decorated box. While chaplain to New Zealand’s first bishop, he introduced beekeeping to its North Island. Your book, anywhere within the UK, is sent to you FREE.
